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A SYSTEM 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



ADAPTED TO 



CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, 



AND ESPECIALLY TO 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 



BY REV. D; STEELE, 
. „? 



AND A FRIEND. 






^BOSTON: 

JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

1847. 






A 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 

James Munroe & Co. 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 




Stereotyped by 

GEORGE A. CURTIS; 

NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE POUNDERY, 

BOSTON. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 027369 



TO 

THE CHILDREN 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

THIS WORK 

2© M,lF!Fm©^'R©'MJ&, c l?lElLiT ID M ID H © .&. S 5 31 IS) 

BY 

THE AUTHORS. 



PREFACE. 



The object of this work is to give a child, at the 
earliest age, a foundation on which it may build moral 
reasonings for itself. Children like to have reasons. 
The questions, " Why is this?" " Why should I not 
do this ? " or " Why should I do that ?" are constantly 
puzzling their little heads ; and are frequently made, 
by them, to puzzle older ones also ; and it was thought, 
that a simple, plain, easy work on Moral Philosophy, 
would be useful to them, and to the community at 
large. 

But how to produce such a work ? That seemed 
to be a question not easily answered. Moral Philoso- 
phy is generally considered as an abstruse and diffi- 
cult science. Minds of the most powerful character 
have handled it, only to produce contradictory and 
clashing systems ; and in our colleges* it is given to 
students only of the most advanced classes and ma- 
tured intellects, as a kind of finishing-off to their edu- 
cation. It would seem, therefore, to be almost a mad 
undertaking, to endeavor to reverse this process ; and 
to place Moral Philosophy in the hands of a child, at 
the earliest stages of his education, expecting him to 
understand and to use it. Yet, if such a thing could 
be done, it seemed most desirable. For it is impor- 
tant that the moral training of a child should com- 
mence with his earliest perceptions ; and, particularly, 



D PREFACE. 

that it should keep pace with his intellectual advance- 
ment in schools. For, without good morals, intel- 
lectual power is only power for misery to its possessor, 
and for mischief to the community ; and whenever we 
produce intellectual, without equal moral advancement, 
we furnish power without any security or certainty 
how it will be used. The probabilities are, that it 
will be used for harm, both to the individual himself 
and to others. 

This is a subject well worthy of attention in a 
nation like ours, the very existence of which rests 
upon its tone of public sentiment; where sound 
morality is as essential to the community as the air 
we breathe is to the existence of our bodies. 

The authors of this work, while feeling the difficul- 
ties of this undertaking, were encouraged to it by a 
full belief, that, what God has made it important to 
children to know, he has given children capacities to 
understand. 

With this conviction they began their work. They 
are not ashamed to confess that, small as the book is, 
and simple as it appears to be, it has been produced 
only after long and laborious study, (not only of books, 
but of the heart and of life,) and after many changes 
of plans, and a greater consumption of ink and paper 
than would seem possible for such an occasion. The 
numerous friends of education, to whom they have 
submitted their manuscript, have encouraged them to 
hope that their labor has not been lost. If they have 
succeeded, they will consider it among the happiest 
events of their lives ; if they have not, they trust some 



PREFACE. 



other person may be stirred up by their act to accom- 
plish that which they have here attempted to do. 

They have, throughout, studied simplicity and 
unity ; simplicity, in order that the child may under- 
stand the system ; and unity, in order that he may 
retain it. God's laws for mind, as well as for matter, 
are, moreover, all simple, — sublime in their simplicity. 

The language', in general, consists of easy words. 
Now and then a difficult word could not be avoided ; 
and there, the teacher or a dictionary can be brought 
to the child's assistance. Where children are too 
young to understand the whole book, the train of 
thought, it is believed, may still be impressed upon 
them by the teacher or parent ; the leading idea is so 
simple that this may be done at the earliest age, even 
at five or six years. It is very important to commence 
moral instruction at the earliest possible age. 

The writers would recommend that in schools the 
work be interposed, as a reading book, so as to be gone 
over, at least once a month. Questions may then be put 
by the teacher. It is believed that the book will also 
be found to be useful in Sunday schools and families. 

Although one of the authors is a member of the 
Methodist, and the other, of the Protestant Episcopal 
church, they have carefully, and they believe success- 
fully, endeavored to avoid all topics of a sectarian nature. 
In some instances, for example, in speaking of the great 
law for spirit, in order to make the thought complete, 
they should have gone further, and have shown how 
this love may originate ; but they passed this by, as a 
subject belonging to pulpit teachings, and not required 



PREFACE. 



by their general plan. Their object was to produce a 
small, plain, simple work, with a system so easy of 
comprehension that the youngest child might under- 
stand it, and presented in such a way, that the child 
might love it also. 

Hagerstown, Md., August 29th, 1846. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

A School. 

page 
Section 1. Condition of a school without rule or law ; and 

the consequences of such a state of things, ... 13 

2. A school with rule or law : the results from such a 

school, 14 

3. The enforcements of law, — what they are, 15 

CHAPTER II. 

The World. 

1. The world divided into nations, all of which have laws, 

written or understood : the necessity of laws in this 
case, also, 16 

2. Another set of laws, of a still higher character, resting 

and in force upon us, both while in school and out 
in the world. These belong to a larger sphere of 
things — the universe, 18 

CHAPTER HI. 

The Universe. 

1. The number of worlds which telescopes give us the 

power of estimating. Law prevails over all these, . 19 

2. Exhibition of these laws, with regard to our sun and 

its attendant planets. Law prevails also in the world 

of spirits, 21 

2 



10 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Higher Law, or Law of God, applied to Man. 

PAGE 

1. If man sows grain on the ocean wave, or on a naked 

rock, what follows ? How God's law is sustained, . 22 

2. Rule or law for man's body. If man should disregard 

this law, and should attempt to float in the air, or 
live in the sea, what would follow ? 23 

CHAPTER V. 

The Same Subject continued. 
i. Man's better nature, — the spirit within him, ... 25 

2. The spirit has two kinds of faculties, or powers, the 

intellectual and the moral faculties, .25 

3. Importance of having the moral keep pace, in improve- 

ment, with the intellectual faculties, 26 

4. Mutual action and reaction of the mental and moral 

faculties. Upward tendency, if this is good, ... 27 

5. Downward tendency, if it is bad, 28 

6. Importance of our present position, 28 

CHAPTER VI. 

This Law in Connection with Man's Pursuit — Happiness. 

1. God has given us a law for man's spirit, or soul, as well 

as for his body ; and if we would be happy, we 
must accommodate ourselves to this law, .... 29 

2. What is this law? The question answered, .... 30 

3. The law of loving our neighbor explained, .... 33 

4. Proofs that this is the law for spirit, 35 

CHAPTER VII. 
Love. 

1. The nature and power of love, 37 

2. The beauty of this great law of love, 39 

3. Its excellence 40 



CONTENTS. 



11 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Modes of Cultivating this Love. 

PAGE 

1. How cultivate it? The question partly answered. 

Some remarks on the povjer possessed by persons 
who cultivate this principle, 41 

2. Further answer: — by cultivating a feeling of mutu- 

ality, 44 

3. Further answer : by action, 45 

4. Guard against pride, 46 

5. The heart's feelings laid open to our higher Friend, . 49 

CHAPTER IX. 

Love to Parents and other Relations and Friends. 
The true philosophy is practised in our childhood, — is 

deserted as we grow older, and, as we think, wiser, 49 

CHAPTER X. 

Various Cases applied to this Law of Spirit. 

1. Events of life, — how to be judged, 54 

2. How afflictions, infirmities, poverty, wealth, power, are 

affected by this test, 55 

3. When we injure others, we, at the same time, injure 

ourselves, 55 

4. Our position, if we injure others through ignorance, . 56 

5. The case, if any one does an injury to us, .... 57 

6. Lying, 58 

7. Stealing, 64 

8. Slander and detraction, 66 

9. Envy and covetousness, 69 

10. Selfishness, 71 

11. Profanity, 72 

12. Other vices, 75 

13. Violation of this law; — the reckless and supreme 

selfishness of such violations, 76 

14. The conclusion, 79 



CHAPTER I. 

A SCHOOL. 

1. Well, my young friend, I am glad 
to find you here, engaged with books and 
study. I wish, now, to sit down by your 
side, and to have a little conversation 
about your school. 

Suppose that every person attending 
here, were allowed to come or not, just 
as he pleases ; to come at any time of the 
day he pleases, and leave just when he 
thinks proper ; to study just what he 
might choose, or not to study at all, if he 
prefers it ; to say his lessons, or to omit 
them, as he thinks best ; and to have his 
choice, whether to talk or to be silent, to 
play, or to walk about, or to sit still, 
according to his fancy ; in short, to do 
just as he pleases ; — now what kind of a 
school would that be ? 

I think you would soon have no school 

at all. 

2* 



14 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

If all schools were attempted on this 
plan, people would grow up grossly ig- 
norant and self-willed ; and a thousand 
frightful evils, — superstition, misrule, cor- 
ruptions, contentions, would soon deluge 
our land with blood. Our country would 
perish ; and its end would be a frightful 
one. 

2. Let us now take a look at schools 
as they are. You will see that, in a 
school, everything is governed by rule or 
law. There may, perhaps, be no written 
laws at all ; but still there are rules or 
laws. For instance, the school is opened 
at a certain time : that is one rule. Each 
scholar has his particular place, and his 
allotted study : there is rule in that. 
Every one has a time for saying his les- 
son, and is expected to know something 
about it : in that there is also rule or law. 
By a set and known rule you are also let 
out to play ; called in, again, to your les- 
sons ; passed from one study to another ; 
and, finally, at a time fixed by rule, you 
are dismissed to your homes. In all this, 
as I said, there may not be any rule writ- 



A SCHOOL- 15 

ten down : but the rules are as well un- 
derstood and as well observed as if they 
were written. 

And in this way, by the power of rule 
or law, we have a school, where are found 
order and quiet ; where children learn ; 
and where they grow up prepared to take 
their parts as good and useful citizens 
of our country. In this manner, by the 
power of a few simple laws working in the 
schoolhouses, all over the land, our coun- 
try is made prosperous and happy. Law 
does it all. 

3. I mean by this, however, law sup- 
ported, or enforced: for suppose your 
teacher were simply to make a rule that 
every person should be quiet and orderly 
in school, and sit in the place appointed 
for him ; and should do nothing more in 
the matter ; what would be the result ? 
Why, one person would soon break the 
law, and then another, and then another : 
and the law would soon be like a rope of 
sand. It would soon be no law at all. 
To make it do any good, or to be more 
than a string of words, law must have 



16 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

something to back it, or support it- 
Teachers effect this in a variety of ways : 
by corporeal punishment ; by talking to us 
till we are pained in our hearts ; by show- 
ing how disobedience must grieve parents 
and friends ; or by showing how it will, 
in after life, produce grief to ourselves. 
So that the fear of suffering is that which 
gives law its force. If suffering follow 
the breach of a law, then a law has force : 
if suffering do not follow the breach of 
a law, then it has no force. Is it not so? 
So, my young friend, we have learned a 
little bit of philosophy about schools : have 
we not? And now, this will be sufficient 
for our first lesson in these matters. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE WORLD. 

1. Come, my little philosopher, let us 
have some further conversation : and, 
this time, we will talk about the world. 

Now, the w r orld, you know, is divided 
into a great many nations, having quite a 



THE WORLD. 17 

variety of languages : and each nation 
also has its different manners and modes 
of living. Some nations are large ; some 
are quite small ; and some are only tribes 
of a few hundred persons, as we see 
among our western Indians. But great 
or small, and however different in lan- 
guage and customs, they are all alike in 
one thing ; — they all have rules or laws. 

Indeed, not only is it impossible for a 
nation to exist without rules, but no two 
individuals can, anywhere, live together 
without some fixed modes or rules of con- 
duct ; for, without these, neither person 
would know what to expect from the 
other, or how to consult the other's com- 
fort or advantage. So, wherever there is 
a nation, there must be laws ; otherwise 
every man's actions would clash with every 
other man's ; and there would be the 
wildest confusion, with strife and misery. 

The nation would, at once, perish. 

Consequently, in all nations, there are 
known rules or laws : the fewer and 
simpler the laws are, the better ; but still 
the nation must have laws. 



18 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

With us, a portion of the rules are 
written out, and form the civil laws of 
the land : a portion of them are not writ- 
ten out, but form what may be called the 
law of public opinion. 

In this case, also, as in that of the 
school, the law cannot exist unless suffer- 
ing follow the breach of it : for otherwise 
it soon ceases to be law at all, and will 
be found to be nothing but empty words. 

2. And now, my young friend, having 
taken one step higher in our philosophy, 
you and I are going to take wings and fly 
to a far wider scene of operations than 
even our globe. But I want you to take 
notice of one or two things, before we go. 

1st. You perceive that, while you are 
here in the school, the laws of the great 
world beyond your school-room, the laws 
of the nation, reach you and take you un- 
der their influence, while you are subject 
also to their penalties. So that you have 
two sets of laws resting and acting upon 
you, the laws of the school and the laws 
of the land. 

2nd. Now, just in the same manner ^ 



THE UNIVERSE. 19 

people who are out in the world, forming 
nations and tribes, feel that there are two 
sets of laws resting and acting upon them. 
One consists of the laws of the nation, about 
which we have just been conversing. 
With these, there is another set of laws 
upon them, which seem to come from a 
higher and wider state of things than is 
here in our world. And so they do. 
These are the laivs of God, embracing the 
universe. These laws you feel to be upon 
you, also, here in your school. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE UNIVERSE. 

1. The universe is so vast that no hu- 
man thought can reach its limits. Look 
up at night, my young friend, at the starry 
sky — a sight that we cannot gaze upon 
without a feeling of awe stealing over us. 
Silently the stars rest there, each in its 
place, just where they were thousands of 
years ago. All this is by the law of God. 
These stars look like mere specks to us ; 



20 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

but each one of them, my young friend, is 
a great, great many times larger than the 
whole of our globe. Each one is a sun 
like our sun; and our sun is 1,384,462 
times as large as our world. We can see 
several thousands with our naked eye ; 
but with good telescopes, we can observe 
a great many more. By the help of 
the best telescopes we can get means for 
estimating, it is said, sixty millions of 
these stars or suns ; who can tell how 
many more there are, lying beyond the 
reach of our telescopes? And our sun 
has thirty globes, some larger and some 
smaller, passing around it ; and if each 
of the stars, or suns, noticed above, has 
as many as ours, it will make the amazing 
number of eighteen hundred millions 
of worlds, which we may, with some rea- 
son, suppose to be within the reach of our 
calculations. And this may be only the 
beginning, or the edge, of the mighty uni- 
verse of God. 

Over all this there is law. For, other- 
wise, there would not be order; but con- 
fusion and ruin would quickly follow. 



THE UNIVERSE. 21 

2. Our own globe, we know, revolves, 
that is, passes in a circle, around the sun 
by fixed law ; the moon revolves around 
our earth by a law that does not change ; 
the other planets belonging to our sun 
have their laws ; and the sun itself is also 
held fast by the unchanging law of God. 

So over the universe of matter law pre- 
vails. There can be no doubt also that 
God's laws extend over the world of 
spirits, unseen by our mortal eyes ; for 
so Scripture informs us : and we must 
perceive also that one mind can never 
know what to expect from another, or 
how to act for another, unless mind has 
also its laws, or rules, laid upon it by the 
Creator. Such is the universality and 
the excellence of law. A celebrated En- 
glish writer says, " Of law there can be 
no less acknowledged than that her seat 
is the bosom of God, her voice the har- 
mony of the world : all things in heaven 
and earth do her homage, the very least 
as feeling her care, and the greatest as 
not exempted from her power : both 
angels and men, and creatures of whatever 



22 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



condition soever, though each in different 
sort and manner, yet all with uniform con- 
sent, admiring her as the mother of theii 
peace and joy." 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HIGHER LAW, OR LAW OF GOD, 
APPLIED TO MAN. 

1. Over all the universe, then, there 
is law. It comes from some high and 
mighty power, who is invisible to mortal 
eye, but one, yet, who has skill to form 
the law most wisely, and has ability to 
enforce it. Ail things give us proof of 
this. The law, in this case, too, is en- 
forced by suffering ; that is, if the law is 
broken, suffering follows. Thus is it 
sustained. 

By the regular action of this law upon 
our globe, we know when to look for 
summer and winter, spring and autumn ; 
we know what seeds to sow, and what 
will sustain life, and what will not sus- 
tain it. We know, that if a man sows 



THE LAW OF GOD. 23 

seed on the ocean wave and expects a 
harvest of grain, he will not get it. If a 
man says " I will sow in the water in pref- 
erence to the earth/' he breaks God's law, 
and he suffers. Thus is the law enforced. 
The law is that the earth is the place for 
producing grain, and the law is sustained. 
Man may, if he chooses, sow grain on the 
ocean, or on a naked rock ; the law does 
not yield ; man suffers, and he soon comes 
back to the law. Thus God supports his 
law. 

Now, my young friend, you and I will 
look, a little while longer, at the opera- 
tion of this law upon man; for it is a 
very interesting subject. First, we will 
observe it as regards man's body; then 
we will notice it as it regards the spirit 
in man; and see how, in both cases, it 
affects his well-being, or happiness. 

2. Man's body, which is a kind of case, 
or house for the spirit within him, has a 
number of rules or laws for it ; but we 
can notice only a few of them. The body 
was made to live and move upon the 
earth, not in the air, or in the water, or 



24 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

in the fire. If a man should say, " Non- 
sense, there is no such law ;" or, " I will 
not regard it," and should jump off from 
every high place he comes to, as if he 
thought he could float in the air ; if he 
did not get killed at once, he would soon 
be covered with bruises ; and, if this lat- 
ter, it would continue, until he would come 
back to observe God's law. The law 
surely would not yield for him ; he would 
suffer, and the law would thus be en- 
forced. So, if, in defiance of the laws 
for body, or because he should take a 
fancy for it, hm should say, " I will live 
in the water," he would soon find that he 
was made to live on the land ; and per- 
haps he would be drowned in his mad 
attempt. If he should say, " I do not 
believe God's law about food ; and I will 
live on hard rocks, or on the foam that 
the waves leave along the sea-shore ;" he 
would quickly discover that his teeth 
were not made for the one, nor his body 
for the other ; there would be suffering. 
Thus God's law would be enforced. God 
puts out no hand to prevent a man's doing 



THE LAWS FOR MAN'S SPIRIT. 25 

these things, if he is so determined; in- 
deed, the whole world could go on and do 
them if so resolved : but the laws for 
man's body would not yield. Everywhere, 
these laws would move on, firm and un- 
changing ; everywhere supported still, by 
suffering being a consequence of break- 
ing them. 

We are now going, my young friend, to 
take up a higher subject — the laws for 
man's spirit and its happiness. These we 
will enter upon in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 

1. It is my purpose now, my young 
friend, to look at man's better nature — 
his spirit, or that which is, in him, differ- 
ent from matter. 

Our body is matter ; but we all know 
that we have something within us differ 
ent from that ; we will call it spirit, or 
soul. 

2. This spirit has two kinds of facul- 



26 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ties, or powers : one kind by which we 
think, reason, judge, &e. ; and another 
kind, by which we feel, as when we have 
joy, sorrow, hope, anger, jealousy, envy, 
love, kindness, etc. 

I will, if you please, call the first of 
these our mind, or mental nature, or in- 
tellect ; the other we will call our feelings, 
or our moral nature. 

3. I am now going, my young friend, to 
say something which is very important, 
and I want you to give particular atten- 
tion to it. It is this : — that, if we wish to 
be happy, the improvement of our moral 
faculties, i. e. our feelings, must advance 
equally with the improvement of our 
minds. A great many persons neglect 
this. They take great pains to improve 
their minds ; but neglect the improve- 
ment of their moral feelings. Now, when 
this is the case, and where the feelings are 
wrong, every advance in the improvement 
of the mind gives people only so much 
more power for mischief; and, not only 
does society suffer in consequence of this, 
but the individual is also a sufferer. 



THE LAWS FOR MAN'S SPIRIT. 27 

We must be careful to improve our 
moral faculties just as fast as we improve 
our minds. If we do not attend to this, 
the more knowledge we get the more un- 
happy we shall be. 

4. The mind and the moral feelings act 
upon each other. The person who loves 
what is good and right, and is determined 
to make them his, will understand what 
is good and right, quicker than one who 
does not love or care for them. A bad 
man will understand that 2 and 2 make 
4, or that twice 5 are 10, just as soon as 
a good one ; but in all matters of life, the 
man who loves the good and right, will 
have a clearer understanding of them, 
than one who does not love them. 

If we love the good and right, in all 
things, we shall have a quicker perception 
and shall find them sooner, in consequence 
of this love for them ; if, when we find 
them, we receive and love them, we shall 
have clearer sight for further search ; and 
so it will go on through our life. Angels 
probably forever, grow both wiser and 
better, in this way ; and, through eternity 



28 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

will continually be rising higher and high- 
er in the scale of existence. 

5. So the love of evil has, evermore, a 
sinking process in the human soul. It 
darkens our minds : we try to blind and 
cheat our reason, and we succeed. We 
soon come to lose sight of nice differences 
between right and wrong ; between good 
and evil ; then we fail to see broader dif- 
ferences ; then we confound good and 
evil, right and wrong. And so the soul 
of man may go on, growing more dim in 
its perceptions, while the love of evil grows 
stronger and sinks it lower and lower, for- 
ever, in the scale of being. 

6. You see, my young friend, what an 
important position you are now in. Here 
you commence the upward or the down- 
ward progress. Your course depends on 
the direction which you give to the moral 
feelings in connection with your improve- 
ment of the mind. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THIS LAW IN CONNECTION WITH MAN'S 
PURSUIT HAPPINESS. 

1. Everybody wishes to be happy. 
Everybody is trying to be happy. This 
is the object of man's life. 

Now, my young friend,* suppose that a 
person wishing to enjoy good health and to 
have his body comfortable, should go and 
live all the time in the water, or all the 
time in an oven ; or should eat only poi- 
sonous food; or when in an upper room, 
instead of going regularly down stairs, 
should jump from the window ; you know, 
as we have already shown you, that this 
man \tould not have good health. He 
would soon have his limbs broken ; or he 
would soon die from the poison. And 
why? Simply because God has made 
our bodies to live on the land, and in the 
pure air, and to be supported by good 
food ; and it is one of his laws that we 
should go slowly, and not violently, down 



30 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

from high places ; and if we do not that 
we shall be hurt. 

Just so God has formed the soul for 
certain things, and has given it laws; and 
to these laws we must accommodate our- 
selves, if we would be happy. The laws 
will not yield for us ; we must yield to 
the laws. All the labor and all the inge- 
nuity in the world will not make us hap- 
py, or even comfortable, without this ; 
any more than all the labor and all the 
ingenuity in the world would make a 
man's body comfortable at the bottom of 
the sea or in a hot fire. All things in the 
universe are subject to law. Our souls 
are not neglected. There is law for them. 
God, who has formed them, and who alone 
understands the delicate yet powerful 
machinery of which they are composed, 
has given them laws, as he has to every- 
thing else. 

2. What, then, are the laws for the 
spirit or soul ? Why, my young friend, 
if you or I, without any help, were to at- 
tempt to answer that question, we should 
be greatly puzzled ; for the spirit of man 



THE LAWS FOR MAN'S SPIRIT. 31 

is composed of so many parts, and is so 
hid within us, that it would be very dif- 
ficult indeed for us to speak, with cer- 
tainty, on this subject. Who can under- 
stand the soul of man, with its vast and 
varied powers ; some of its parts, appa- 
rently, too delicate for an angel's hand to 
touch, others of the hardiest and most 
powerful character, and some grasping 
after eternity itself? We know that 
there must be law for this spirit, as there 
is for all things else ; because this is nec- 
essary in order to keep its various parts 
from confusion and strife, and to bind 
them into order ; but who shall read this 
law to us, and particularly who shall de- 
clare this law, so that a little child may 
understand it ? God has done this. He 
who made the soul, and who alone can 
understand its nature so as not to mis- 
take about it, has written the law 
down for us, and we all may read and 
comprehend it. The law is, that we shall 
love what is good. But inasmuch as we 
might sometimes mistake about what is 
good ; and because, too, that active good- 



32 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ness is always more attractive to us than 
goodness not in action ; and because that 
when in action for us, it draws our hearts 
more than it would otherwise do ; there- 
fore the law is that we love God, of whom, 
there can be no doubt, who is always 
good, and whose goodness is ever active, 
and active for us. This is the law for the 
spirit : ive are to love God with all our 
hearts. God, who has formed the spirit 
within us and has given to it a law, as he 
has to everything else, tells us that this is 
the law. 

It is in vain for us to think of getting 
away from this law. We cannot escape from 
it. We cannot alter it. It is the law for the 
spirit, just as much as the law of living on 
the ground and not in mid-air, or in the 
sea, or in the fire, is the law of our bodies, 
and cannot be escaped from or altered. 

How simple is this law, how easily un- 
derstood, how beautiful, and how attract- 
ive ! A child can understand it ; a child 
can practise it ; and yet it is the great law 
for the soul ; the great law for the happi- 
ness of all human beings, and doubtless, 



THE LAWS FOR MAN'S SPIRIT. 33 

too, for all beings of the unseen spiritual 
world. 

3. Springing out of this law, and like 
to it, is another, that of loving our neigh- 
bor, that is, all mankind ; for so it is ex- 
plained. All mankind are our neighbors, 
and we are told that we must love them 
as ourselves. But you ask, how can I 
love all mankind as I love myself? Can 
it be possible for me to do so ; for some 
people are very bad ? 

Now listen, then, while I talk to you 
for a few moments, but you must listen 
attentively. 

Suppose yourself having a friend whom, 
for good reasons, you love very much. 
He is a very good friend to you ; loves 
you very greatly, and is very kind to you. 
You love him in return very truly ; so 
much that it seems as if you loved him 
with all your heart. You are very, very 
fond of him ; you love to be near him, to 
see him, to hear him, to feel his kindness 
to you, and to observe its exercise toward 
others. And this friend has a son, in 
whom he is very greatly interested. He is 
4 



34 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

trying in every way to do him good ; he 
loves that son very much. I think that, 
for the father's sake, you would take very 
great interest in that son, and would love 
him also. You would not love his bad 
qualities, or his bad conduct; but you 
would love the son for his father's sake ; 
and take very great interest in him ; and 
you would join the father in trying to do 
him good. Am I not right in saying this ? 

Now, God is our friend. We cannot 
ever understand fully what a good friend 
he has been to us. Our neighbor is his 
son ; all mankind are his children ; and 
for his sake, we should love them all. If 
we love him with all our heart, and soul, 
and strength, and remember too, that, 
God being our father, all mankind are our 
brothers and sisters of his family, we 
shall love all mankind very much. 

And let me tell you, my young friend, 
that the more we come to love others the 
less we shall wish to love ourselves. 

So, if we love God as we ought to do, 
we shall find it less difficult to love our 
neighbor as ourselves, than we may now 



THE LAWS FOR MAN'S SPIRIT. 35 

suppose it to be. How few people make 
the experiment ! 

Let us then, when we look abroad on 
the world, love all people, for God's sake. 
They are his children, and he is our best 
and kindest friend, and is, or should be, 
very dear to us. Our love for others will 
thus depend, not on any changing qualities 
in them, making it a changing love, but 
on love to God, who is ever the same ; 
and, therefore, our affection to them will 
be constant, and will follow them, let 
them be or act as they may. In God's 
mighty love to us, and in the warming of 
our hearts to him, we shall find our re- 
ward. The bad qualities of men will not 
excite in us angry feelings toward the 
individuals or drive us away from them ; 
for in our sight they will still be God's 
children, to whom he is ever trying to do 
good ; and we shall try also, with him, to 
do them good. 

4. This will be the action of this great 
law of love to God, and through him, of 
love to men. I will, in this book, here- 
after, call both these laws, the great law 



36 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

for the spirit : for they both may be said 
to form but one law, the law of love. 

That this is the true law for the spirit, 
we have not only God's word, the Bible, 
for proof, but we have the fact, that all 
things act harmoniously with this law. 
This law once adopted, all things in life 
come and arrange themselves quietly un- 
der it ; among all things and all acts there 
will be union and harmony ; and in the 
heart there will be peace. Far more 
than that, in the heart there will be true 
happiness. We all have glimpses of this, 
at times, when we do each other good. 
How happy the heart is on such occa- 
sions ! How our little experience con- 
firms the declaration that this is God's 
lata for the soul or spirit of man! 

This law of love to our neighbor, does 
not prevent us from loving others also for 
their good qualities; good qualities in 
others are the reflection of God, and we 
may love all such things truly ; but let us 
love all mankind for his sake ; for he is 
our friend, and they are his children, all 
dear to him. 



CHAPTER VII. 

LOVE. 

1. Love is a very simple feeling. 
Everybody knows what it is ;. but, by 
some means or other, it has come to be 
greatly underrated in the world. It is 
sometimes thought to be, not only a soft, 
but almost an unmanly feeling. On the 
contrary, it is the loftiest, most noble, 
most energetic, and most life-giving, as 
well as the most delightful feeling of our 
nature. St. John was full of love. St. 
John was also the bravest of all the 
Apostles. He stood by Christ, when the 
others forsook him ; and was at the foot 
of the cross, not afraid to be known as a 
disciple, while the most deadly rage and 
the fiercest malice were venting them- 
selves on the Saviour. The whole his- 
tory of England does not present a more 
noble character than that of William 
Wilberforce, whose heart was full of love. 

4* 



38 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

It was this feeling that led Howard to 
seek fearlessly for human sufferings, amid 
jail fevers and loathsome dungeons ; and 
this induced the late Mrs. Fry to visit the 
cells of wild maniacs, where the affection 
that breathed through her tones and man- 
ner, subdued the wildest of them. " The 
angels/' one of them said to her, " the 
angels have lent you their voices." Love 
produces a buoyancy of character which 
nothing else can produce. We have an 
instance of this in St. Paul, whom no 
trials, no persecutions, no disappoint- 
ments, no rage of man could beat down. 
His character was remarkable for buoy- 
ancy ; love was the cause of it. 

We are told in the Scriptures, that 
God is love ; and it was, doubtless, love 
which caused him to create the mighty 
universe with its infinite wonders, full of 
wisdom, full of grandeur and sublimity. 
Love is powerful. Love is also full of 
self-sacrificing kindness ; for it led Christ 
Jesus to die on the cross for us. 

That it is a delightful feeling, and 
that it opens to the heart a new life, all 



LOVE. 39 

who have ever tried it, have experienced. 
It is perhaps also the only feeling in us 
which does not cloy by indulgence, or 
grow wearied by exercise. Love is al- 
ways fresh, and finds, in every one of its 
acts, new pleasures as well as increase of 
strength. 

2. It is this feeling, so delightful in its 
exercise, so simple that every person in 
the world knows what it is, so compre- 
hensive that it binds man's heart to the 
whole universe, and so powerful as to be 
death's triumphant conqueror, it is this 
which is given from heaven as the great 
law of the soul. Thou shalt love ; this 
is God's law. He formed the soul, and 
this is the law which He has given for it. 
Men may try to form other laws to take 
the place of this ; and they do try : — 
laws of hatred, and selfishness, and indif- 
ference ; but they try in vain. All such 
trials will ever fail. If we wish to be 
happy, we may as well begin, at once, at 
the right place. All other effort is only 
time and labor lost. God made the soul ; 
God knows it. He has given it a law ac- 



40 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

commodated to it ; and we may as well 
endeavor to raise grain for the suste- 
nance of our bodies by ploughing a hard 
rock, as to endeavor to be happy except 
in following this law. 

3. I was walking along Broadway in 
New York a few days since. The street 
was thronged with people hurrying to and 
fro. Every one was passing rapidly on 
his own way, and apparently absorbed in 
his own affairs. In such a crowd, where 
every person seems to be alone, there is 
more solitude than in a desert ; and so it 
appeared to me. But, all at once, I 
thought of each of these individuals as the 
centre, at his home or among his friends, 
of affections all radiating towards him, 
and he giving affection back again ; and 
to my eye the whole scene was altered. 
The solitude was gone. 

Such is the power of love distantly 
viewed, and comparatively narrow in its 
influence. What would the scene be, 
should the heart of every individual be 
full of love towards the mighty Creator, 
the Supreme in excellence, and, through 



MODES OF CULTIVATING LOVE. 41 

him, to all mankind. Surely this is the 
soul's great law. If it were obeyed, how 
would happiness flash from soul to soul 
over all the earth ! 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MODES OF CULTIVATING THIS PRIN- 
CIPLE. 

1. Then, my young friend, will you be- 
gin life in the right way ; or will you, like 
others, make life one constant succession 
of toilsome experiments with false laws, 
to result as they have done, from the be- 
ginning of the world, in disappointment, 
chagrin, and bitter complaints? 

You feel disposed, perhaps, to answer 
wisely ; and you ask me, how you are to 
cultivate this love to God and love to 
man? I answer, by feeling that God is 
your friend ; and then, opening your 
heart to all the affections which this feel- 
ing produces. We have no difficulty in 
cultivating love towards an earthly friend, 
when we are satisfied that he is sincerely 



42 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

attached to us ; that he is a person of ex- 
cellent qualities ; that he can be depended 
upon in any trial, and any extremity ; 
that he is sincerely interested in our wel- 
fare, and ever ready to do us a kindness. 
Now, God is a far better friend, and 
more to be relied on, and is truer to our 
interests than any earthly friend has ever 
been. His affection for us is noble and 
true, in every feeling and in every act. He 
is very kind. Kindness from man always 
melts the human heart, and wins us over 
to it. God is kind ; every day witnesses 
his kind acts to us. His kindness is 
around us like an atmosphere ; we live 
in it, breathe in it. 

He has left marks of his goodness and 
greatness, too, in every object which 
meets our eye ; and in every act of his, 
all the world over. Feel, then, that God, 
your friend, is always near you ; that no 
earthly kindness which you have ever 
known, will compare with the kindness 
which warms in him towards you; and 
let your heart open to the influences of 
those feelings. Your heart will warm 



MODES OF CULTIVATING LOVE. 43 

under them : it will increase in love to 
God. And now, my young friend, remem- 
ber that love always produces love back 
again. When a child is affectionate to- 
wards a parent, and gives proofs of it, the 
parent's heart warms, in an unusual de- 
gree, towards the child. So God will 
doubtless love, in a more than common 
manner, the person who truly loves him. 
Love is the most precious thing that the 
heart can bestow : all other gifts follow it 
freely and plentifully, for then it is the 
heart's best pleasure to give. See, then, 
the position of a person who loves God in 
an especial manner. He has the best 
treasure that Heaven itself can bestow, 
God's especial love ;* and*, with it, God 
will take pleasure in bestowing upon him 
every other good thing. So, also, with 
man's regards towards us. Love here 
also begets love. Show love to man,— 
manifest it in kindness, and in the pecu- 
liarly gentle and winning manner which 
affection only knows, — and it is not in the 
power of the human heart to resist it. 

# This is probably meant by the expression, " laying up trea- 
sures in heaven. " 



44 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

The heart will open to it, and give affec- 
tion back again. 

The person, then, who follows these 
commands, will go through life having the 
most precious things that heaven and 
earth can give, — the heart's love, love 
from God and love from man. He will 
also have great power too, — power upon 
God's affections ; power upon man's 
heart. What a noble subject for the 
soul's lofty aspirings ! 

2. Another mode of cultivating love to 
God, is by cherishing a feeling of mutu- 
ality, if I may use so difficult a word. 
By this I mean, that we should feel that 
in every good act which we perform, God 
is acting with us ; and that he is a sharer 
with us in the pleasure which such a 
good act communicates to the doer of it. 

Where there is true love, there is 
great pleasure in mutuality. We love to 
work together with a friend ; we love to 
feel that our labor is mutual, and the re- 
sult mutual. True affection rejoices in 
mutuality, and it increases affection. 
The pleasures from mutuality are per- 



MODES OF CULTIVATING LOVE. 45 

haps one cause of God's employing angels 
as ministering spirits. 

3. Another way of cultivating love is 
by action, This will apply more espec- 
ially to our fellow-beings. I have shown 
how this love for our neighbor, that is, for 
all mankind, will commence in our hearts. 
If our love is the true love, it will not lie 
inactive. Indeed, if it could, it would 
soon cease to be love ; it would die. 
True love cannot exist without action : it 
looks for it at once ; and, in it, finds some 
of its highest pleasures. The opportu- 
nities for its exercise are all around us. 
We should not wait for occasions to do 
something great, letting all other occa- 
sions pass. When we love a person, we 
delight to show it in little, as well as in 
great things. Indeed, affection is best 
shown, and it reaches the heart of others 
most, when it is exercised in small matters. 
We know, then, that it is an ever-wakeful, 
watchful love, and therefore that it is 
true. Every person, and every event in 
life, gives us an opportunity for its exer- 
cise. We can show it in kind looks, in 
5 



4b MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

the tone of our voice, in gentle and kind 
words, as well as in our doings. We need 
not wait a moment for occasions for show- 
ing this feeling. But especially can we 
manifest it towards the weak, the afflicted, 
and the unfortunate. It will be gentle 
to the failings of others, and will ever try 
to bring the erring back to the right paths. 

"Thy brother hath fallen ; 
O go to him now, 
With love in thy bosom, 
And smiles on thy brow ; 

" Speak words of pure kindness, 
And help him to rise 
From error to virtue, 
From earth to the skies." 

4. We must also guard against pride ; for 
pride is a very great enemy to love. Pride 
is a mischievous and dangerous thing. It 
drove angels out from heaven once, and 
will soon drive love from the human heart. 
Other bad qualities mostly show, at once, 
what they are, and have something hate- 
ful in their appearance ; but pride comes 
like a well-dressed gentleman, and, touch- 
ing us on the elbow, says, " Take care, 
my friend, your love is not returned ; your 



MODES OF CULTIVATING LOVE. 47 

a 

love is not valued as it should be ; you 
are forgetting your own proper dignity ; 
your kind acts are not estimated as they 
deserve ; do not throw them away ; give 
only kindness for kindness ; nay, try peo- 
ple a little by looking coldly at them, and 
see whether they will notice the change in 
you ; and whether they will feel sorry for 
it at all." So says pride, and sometimes 
we listen to it ; and love dies under its 
withering power, and we are unhappy. 
Many a person has been unhappy all 
through life, in consequence of listening, 
in this way, to pride. 

When it comes, in this manner, do not 
listen to it at all ; but love. You will 
feel a great deal happier in loving, than 
in listening to pride. Try the experiment, 
and you will find that I am right, in say- 
ing this. 

5. I think, my young friend, that if you 
love God with all your heart, you will love 
also to speak to him, just as you would 
to any earthly friend to whom you are 
greatly attached ; not seldom and coldly, 
but often, and with affection's warmth of 



48 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

manner. This is prayer. Our thoughts 
will turn to him, just as a child's thoughts 
turn towards its parents, when it is in 
trouble, or when it wants advice, or when 
it wants help, or when it is glad. God 
is our father and friend ; and the ear of no 
earthly friend or father has been so open 
to us as is his ; nor has any heart ever 
been so affectionate toward us ; no one 
has ever taken such a ready interest in 
our sorrows, or troubles, or joys, as he 
does ; and surely no one is so able to help 
us, though he may not always do it ex- 
actly as we may wish ; for he is a better 
judge of what is good for us than we are. 
Then, all through life, when you are 
in trouble or doubt, say to him at once, 
"Father, help me ; Father, direct me;" 
and assuredly he will do it. Very often, 
in the world, you will hardly know whom 
to trust, but you can always trust him. 
And, in your joys, feel that he is sharing 
them with you ; and so, in all situations, 
no matter where you may be, or how em- 
ployed, let your heart and yeur thoughts 
turn readily, and affectionately, and con- 



LOVE TO PARENTS AND OTHERS. 49 

fidently, toward him. Especially ask him 
to give you love to him, and to bring you 
in affection, nearer to him ; every day, 
still nearer. 



CHAPTER IX. 

LOVE TO PARENTS AND OTHER RELA- 
TIVES, AND FRIENDS. 

While this exercise of love is not only 
beautiful, but productive of happiness in 
all situations, there are none of an earth- 
ly nature where it is more attractive than 
in the family relations of parent and child, 
brothers and sisters. 

It is a wise provision of our Creator 
that we should begin life under circum- 
stances so well adapted to cultivate in us 
at once, an observance of the great law 
for spirit, the law of love. In our early 
childhood we love, love truly and strong- 
ly; and our early life is all bright in 
consequence of this. It is a pity that 
we forget the lesson so soon. There 
is nothing that, in our after life, we 



50 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

look back to with so many agreeable 
remembrances and such fond regret, as to 
our childhood's love. But we do it with- 
out gaining from the lesson, or thinking 
that the law of the spirit has not changed, 
and that it is, now, as ready to shed its 
brightness over our manhood or old age. 
We begin life with the true philosophy, 
and are happy* ; we desert the true phi- 
losophy as we grow older, and think that 
we grow wiser, and we are unhappy. 
This is the history of rnen.f 

My young friend, love your parents and 

* Christ said, " Suffer little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. " By 
this, doubtless, was meant, that angels, like children, observe 
the soul's great law, its true philosophy, — love and confidence. 

f Note for grown people. It is well worthy of remark, that 
those sects of Christians which have most preached up love to 
God and our neighbor, have spread fastest and widest. Their 
preachers have been, perhaps without knowing it, the true phi- 
losophers ; hitting exactly the soul's true philosophy. 

Doubtless, too, God himself, his character and actions, can 
best be studied in the human exercise of this affection ; for 
this is the truest reflection of himself. Theologians often for- 
get this 5 they mistake when they study Him only in the closet. 
If they wish to study him best, let them also go out into th% 
world, and let their hearts love truly and warmly ; let them 
watch the operation of such love in themselves and others ; 
and they will be sure to find it an excellent book, in which to 
study their Creator, his character and his acts. 






LOVE TO PARENTS AND OTHERS. 51 

the other friends that cluster with you 
around the family hearth. Love springs 
up readily and freely in the youthful 
heart. Do not check it ; but cherish it, 
so that it may grow strong, and accom- 
pany you out into the world, to diffuse 
there its cheerful light over your exis- 
tence. And value the love which you 
receive from parents and friends, in re- 
turn. Love, as I have already said, is 
the best treasure that the universe can 
afford ; and from parents and friends it is 
always strongest and best. Trust it. 
You may not always be able to under- 
stand fully what your parents are design- 
ing or planning for you. Indeed, how 
can you ? For" their judgment has had 
time and experience to enlighten and 
guide it, and yours has not ; therefore 
you cannot always understand what they 
design for you. And when their plans 
are the widest and largest for you, you 
will necessarily be able to understand them 
the least. But trust them ; for there is 
no earthly love like that which we meet 
with at home. 



52 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 



Do not grieve their affection. If you 
do anything now to hurt your parents' 
feelings, you will think of it with pain in 
all your future life. You will look back, 
and think how true and strong their love 
was for you ; and you will compare it 
with the coldness and treachery of the 
world around you ; and you will sorrow 
that you did anything to give pain to 
those who loved you so well. 

There is a large empire, the empire of 
China, the largest and oldest in the world. 
It is composed of materials that seem to 
hang loosely together, and the government 
appears to have little power. Yet it has 
existed and has prospered for a great 
many hundred years ; and this, apparent- 
ly, chiefly because unusual pains are 
taken, in China, to instruct children in 
the duty of loving and honoring their pa- 
rents. It is the subject of instruction in 
schools, and of lectures in public places; t 
and every instance of disrespect is severely 
punished by the officers of justice. Af- 
terwards, as children grow up, they are 



LOVE TO PARENTS AND OTHERS. 53 

taught to regard the emperor as the father 
of his people ; and thus a feeling of rev- 
erence is attached to him. And in this 
manner the country is kept in a quiet and 
flourishing state. I do not, of course, 
intend to recommend everything in Chi- 
na ; but this subject is well worthy of 
attention and remark. 

Love, then, your parents, and brothers 
and sisters, and all your relations and 
friends. Love warmly and truly. It will 
be the best preparation that you can make 
for life, and the great object of life ; for 
it will open the surest way to happiness. 
How beautiful, that God should have 
made this most important lesson so easy 
a one to learn ; and should have made 
it the first in life that our heart turns to ; 
and that he has spread around it so much 
that is bright and attractive ! Learn 
now, and then go and practise the lesson 
through life ; and life will all be bright 
and attractive. 



CHAPTER X. 

VARIOUS CASES APPLIED TO THIS GREAT 
LAW. 

1. You will easily see, then, my young 
friend, that the soul, with all its nice and 
delicate powers, having been so made by 
its Creator that it can be happy and com- 
fortable only while acting according to 
this great law of love, everything in life 
is to be judged by the effect it has upon 
us, with regard to this law. That which 
helps us to observe it, is desirable ; that 
which does not so help us, is undesirable. 
I know that men generally, do not judge 
so in the world ; but we know that there 
is a great deal of misery in the world, 
and it arises from man's misjudging in 
this matter. God has so formed his 
laws, and has formed the soul for them ; 
and all misjudgment or misaction of men 
cannot alter the laws or the soul, and 
must only bring wretchedness on them- 
selves. 

All the work of all the men in the 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 55 

world cannot make rocks or wind good 
food for the body ; and for this good rea- 
son, that the body was not made to feed 
on either, Such efforts would be labor 
lost. Just so it is with the spirit of man. 
We must act according to that for which 
it was made, and which was made for it, 
or our pains will all be thrown away. It 
is surely best to begin right at once. 

2. Afflictions, such as sickness or in- 
firmities, or losses of any kind, are, fhen, 
not evils ; but are the contrary, if they 
help us in the practice of these two laws. 
Poverty is not an evil, but a good to us, 
if it so helps us. Wealth, honors, pow- 
er, are evils, if they hinder us in observ- 
ing these laws. No power on earth can 
make them promote our happiness, if they 
so hinder us. They will, in that case, 
hinder our happiness. So God has made 
us. This is the true standard by which 
all things are to be judged. 

3. As a consequence of all this, we 
must see clearly that any injury which 
we do to a fellow-being is, at the same 
time, a great injury to ourselves. It is 



56 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

acting contrary to this lav/ of love ; and 
our souls cannot be happy in such con- 
trary action. God has so formed the 
soul, and we cannot make it otherwise. 
True, for a while, we may have a kind 
of happiness from such an act; just as 
the body, if we take opium or ardent 
spirits, will, for a while, feel their influ- 
ence. But then the body soon pays for 
this short-lived enjoyment ; for the body 
was not made to thrive in the use of these, 
and cannot be made so to thrive. Just 
so it is with the spirit of man, when he 
injures others. There may be a short- 
lived pleasure, but the soul is not in its 
proper action, and soon suffers for it. 
No power in the world can prevent this 
from taking place. Do not, therefore, 
ever injure a person. Love, love ; this 
is the law. There you will be happy, — 
only there. 

4. We sometimes, through ignorance, 
or want of judgment, may do an injury to 
others, without intending it. In that 
case, if we have taken proper pains to 
inform ourselves, and to have a correct 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 57 

judgment, we do not transgress the law 
of love. But, as soon as we discover our 
error, we should apologize for it, and set 
it right. If we do not act thus, we can- 
not be happy ; we are transgressing this 
law of love. All the world cannot wipe 
off tlie unhappiness of this act from us. 
Let any one just try the experiment of 
confessing a fault, and rectifying it, and 
see how happy he will feel. He is act- 
ing according to the law of love. 

5. If any one injures us knowingly, or, 
having injured us in ignorance, will not 
acknowledge, and rectify it, when he dis- 
covers that he has done us wrong, there 
is no occasion for us to get angry with 
him, and to take revenge. For the man 
is now suffering, or will soon suffer, for 
the act. God says to us, " Vengeance 
is mine, I will repay ;" that is, God has 
so formed the soul, that he who thus 
injures us, cannot be happy for that act. 
It is impossible. He must be unhappy 
for it. The whole world, and all in it, 
cannot keep him from being unhappy. 

Better, far, do him kindness in the true 

6 



58 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

spirit of love. You will be adding to 
your own happiness by this. If you do 
him harm, you break the law of love, and 
will be unhappy too. There is poor sat- 
isfaction in that. How well does the 
Scripture rule agree with our true hap- 
piness. " If thine enemy hunger, feed 
him; if he thirst, give him drink" — 
" Love your enemies ; do good to them 
that hate you." 

6. I wish, however, my young friend, 
to state more particularly some cases of 
violating this great law, by injury to 
others. 

Lying is an injury to others. When 
we lead another person to believe what is 
not true, we give him a cause for wrong 
action or wrong feeling, or a train of wrong 
thoughts, and are therefore injuring him. 
And we are doing an injury to society, 
too ; for society is built upon the suppo- 
sition that people will speak truth to each 
other ; and, therefore, every untruth spo- 
ken by us, is an effort at loosening the 
foundations of society, and of, conse- 
quently, bringing misery upon others. 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 59 

Therefore, all lying is a breach of this 
law for man's spirit — the law of love. 

A little boy whom I knew, not long 
ago, told a lie ; and nobody in the 
world but himself knew that it was an 
untruth. He thought himself perfectly 
safe, because nobody knew, or could 
know, that it was a lie, but himself. 
But now, suppose this little boy had gone 
all alone, where nobody could possibly 
see him, or ever know of the act, and 
had there, all alone, thrust his finger into 
a hot fire ; would he not have been 
burnt ? Would not his finger have been 
burnt, just as much as if all the world 
had been looking at him ? Surely it 
would. And why ? Why, because it is 
one of God's laws that fire shall burn a 
finger put into it, and this law operates 
in all places, and whether we put the 
finger into it publicly or in secret. Just 
so, my young friend, the law for the spirit, 
the great law of love, operates upon us, 
everywhere, whether alone or in public ; 
and we can no more escape from it than 
we can escape from the law about the 



60 . MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

fire burning us, by doing anything se- 
cretly. No matter how we tell an un- 
truth — should the knowledge of it be 
forever confined to ourselves — still this 
law for the spirit is there upon us, in all 
the deep secrecy of our hearts, and the 
law will have its course, just as certainly 
as the laws for the body will have theirs. 

Little John T came late to school, 

a few days ago. He had started from 
home early enough, but he played by the 
way ; and when he got to school, and 
found himself late, he gave some false 
excuse for it. He told an untruth. He 
thought himself safe, because nobody 
knew, or probably would know, that it 
was an untruth, but himself. But in 
telling this untruth, he had done an inju- 
ry to the teacher, to the school, and to 
the whole country ; for, as I said just 
now/ society is built upon the supposi- 
tion that people will speak the truth to 
each other, and every untruth is conse- 
quently an effort at breaking up the foun- 
dations of society, and filling the country 
with confusion and misery. John, there- 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 61 

fore, in this untruth, broke this great law 
for the spirit of man, the law of love. 
He thought himself safe, because nobody 
knew of the lie but himself; but is he 
safe ? No, he is not ; for this law goes 
down into our hearts, and reaches our 
thoughts and wishes and designs. Look 
at John, now, as he sits in his place in 
school. There is a load on his heart. 
Look in his face. The clear, open, 
happy expression of his eyes, and of his 
countenance, has left him. He is con- 
scious of having done a wrong thing. 
He has fallen in his own estimation, and 
in his self-respect. He is filled with 
fears, lest his teacher or parents, or the 
other scholars, should discover what he 
has done. He starts with dread at every 
look of the teacher, fearing that he has 
at last got hold of the truth ; and when 
he goes home, instead of loving to be 
with his parents, and to hear their kind 
voices, he will fear to be near them, lest 
they should question him about the school. 
There is a thorn in his heart ; a serpent 
is stinging him. " A wounded spirit, who 



62 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

can bear it?" John is unhappy. He 
has broken the law of love. 

But the mischief does not perhaps end 
here. If he succeeds in this lie, and is 
not discovered, very probably it will 
encourage him to tell another and greater 
one, and this may encourage him to tell 
a greater still, each lie bringing suffer- 
ings of spirit with it ; and thus, many a 
person has ended with being a confirmed 
rogue and nuisance to society, and, in his 
heart, a most wretched being, full of 
remorse, of self-contempt, and of self- 
loathing, and also full of new wicked- 
ness, all the effects of one secret lie at 
the beginning. He thought at the outset 
that he was safe, because nobody knew 
the lie but himself; but he was not safe. 
There is no safety or happiness but in 
keeping the law of love. 

Suppose now, at the outset, that little 
John, instead of telling the lie, or just 
after telling it, had gone to the teacher 
and told him just how the matter was, 
acknowledging all his fault. This would 
be acting according to the law of love, 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 63 

Now, the teacher might punish him for 
his fault ; but I tell you, my young friend, 
John would sit down on his seat with a 
light and happy heart, in consequence 
of this last act of his. He would no 
longer have the load of the secret lie 
on his heart. He would no longer 
have any fears. His eye would be clear 
and bright ; his face would be open, and 
the happy expression of his countenance 
would show the happiness within his 
heart. He would be happy in school, 
happy in the approbation of his own feel- 
ings, happy in knowing that he had the 
approval of his teacher and the respect 
of the scholars ; and he would be happy, 
on going home, to meet again his parents 
and brothers and sisters. He would be 
acting now in agreement with the law of 
love, and the law would be taking care 
of him in return, and would be spreading 
its happy influences all through his heart. 
Let no one think that he can escape 
from this law by doing a thing in secret. 
It reaches us everywhere ; and when 
our actions or our feelings are shut out 



64 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

from every human eye, this law is just as 
much upon us, and just as much in exer- 
cise, as if the whole world were looking 
at us. We cannot escape from it, though 
we may escape all human observation. 
The law is everywhere ; in the dark as 
well as in the light ; in secret, as well as 
in public places ; is in the depth of our 
hearts and through our whole being, and 
takes hold of all our acts and thoughts 
and feelings, however secret. No more, 
let me repeat it, can we expect to avoid 
its exercise, by flying to secrecy and 
concealment, than a person, who in a 
secret place should put his finger into the 
fire, would escape being burnt, because 
he is doing it secretly. 

7. The same remark will apply to all 
acts of pilfering and stealing, however 
secretly and however cunningly they may 
be done. We may succeed in taking the 
property of another, in such a way that 
no human being but ourselves may have 
any knowledge of the deed. Yet, all 
this while, the law for the spirit of man 
is upon us in its strength and power. 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 65 

There it rests upon our spirits, like the 
grip of a mighty man, and it speaks to us 
like the voice of a trumpet ; and our 
secrecy and our cunning are nothing, 
after all. The spirit of the strongest and 
the most cunning man is all feebleness, 
while he is opposing this law ; he will be 
thwarted in all that he undertakes, be 
his plans ever so deep, or so adroit, or 
though he should succeed in securing a 
treasure and no one know of it. His 
spirit will begin to writhe even in the very 
act that gives him success ; for the strong, 
unyielding, eternal law of the spirit is on 
him, and will be on him forever. 

This law is on the child who steals the 
smallest article, and there too its power 
is felt. The law says, love and do the 
deeds of love ; and we are unhappy, and 
must be unhappy, in every act of injury 
to ethers, whether in their property or 
otherwise. Look at the face of a child 
who pilfers even an apple. Mark, even 
as he eats the apple, his self-condemned 
look, his fearful glancing about, his signs 
of distrust and dread. He is now enjoy- 



66 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ing his plunder ; but is this enjoyment ? 
Really, no. If this is his enjoyment, let 
us have none of it. If this is his enjoy- 
ment, what must his after hours of self- 
abasement, fears and sorrows be ? 

My young friend, I need not counsel 
you to seek no such enjoyment as that. 
It is true that grown people, under such 
circumstances, sometimes put on the 
outward appearance of carousing and 
pleasure ; but this child's heart, which 
has not yet learned to put on such dis- 
guises, is only a fair sample of the dis- 
quiet and the wretchedness of theirs. 
They cannot but be unhappy. They are 
not acting according to the great law for 
man's spirit, and must meet, and do meet, 
the results. 

8. There are some people who would 
scorn to steal or pilfer from a neighbor's 
property, and would be very angry if^ny 
person could suspect them capable of 
this ; and yet they will steal or pilfer 
from a neighbor's reputation, which is a 
far worse thing than the other. For if 
any one steals my property I can replace 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 67 

it ; but if he steals from my reputation, 
he takes that which it will require a long 
time and great labor to replace, while 
he, probably, is not at all benefited by 
the act. This kind of pilfering or steal- 
ing, then, is a very gross violation of the 
law of love, and we should be on our 
guard against it, for the temptations to it 
will be constantly occurring in the course 
of our lives. We break this law of love, 
whenever we say what is false about 
another, or say what is true, if it is of a 
nature to hurt his name or his feelings, 
and is not necessary. Shakspeare says, 

" Who steals my purse steals trash, 't is something, nothing ; 
'Twas mine ; 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands. 
But he who filches from me my good name, 
Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
But makes me poor indeed." 

My young friend, guard carefully against 
this vice ; for the temptation to it will 
be a strong one. Sometimes it will seem 
as if you can benefit or raise yourself in 
the world by taking from the merits of 
others ; sometimes you will feel as if you 
can give a spice to conversation by doing 



68 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

this ; sometimes you can get listeners 
to such remarks, when you cannot, so 
readily, in any other way : and the opin- 
ions of society will not so quickly con- 
demn you for this mode of injuring 
another, as if you should steal his prop- 
erty. But beware ! you break the law of 
love, and all society cannot keep you from 
suffering the consequences. Society may 
even applaud your joke or your keen wit- 
ticism at your neighbor's expense; but, 
my young friend, while society smiles up- 
on you, there will be evil at work in your 
heart. A bitter fountain will be opening 
there ; your soul will drink bitterness 
from it, perhaps forever. You will be 
violating God's great, unchangeable, 
eternal law ; and you will reap the fruits 
of this violation. You cannot escape 
such a result, any more than the man 
who walks on burning coals can escape 
being burnt. The law is as fixed in the 
one case as in the other. Every word 
against your neighbor is a poisoned dagger 
thrust also into your own soul ; and your 
soul will sicken and writhe under it. Is 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 69 

the slanderer and detractor happy ? No ! 
Look at him, and see how, in his face, 
and in his stealthy manner, he carries 
marks of the bitterness, and the fears, and 
the misery, that have sprung up within 
his heart. O how much better is it to 
love ! How much more attractive is 
love, with its open brow, its beaming 
looks, its gentle tones, its kind acts, and 
the heart within, where the bliss of love 
has full possession ! 

9. We are apt, when we see persons 
in higher stations than our own, or pos- 
sessed of greater talents or splendor than 
ourselves, to perceive a feeling of envy 
rising in our hearts. Let us check this 
feeling, for " love envieth not/' Rather 
let us, if these things bring happiness to 
our neighbors, rejoice in that happiness ; 
and thus we shall make all our neighbor's 
possessions contribute to our enjoyment. 
With this disposition in us, we can say 
of all the events of life, what Goldsmith 
said of material things, — 

" Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine," 

7 



70 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

While acting in agreement with the great 
law for spirit, the law of love, there is 
little, indeed, left for us to envy, in the 
conditions of other persons. For the 
heart, with this, has the true science, the 
true philosophy ; it has the noblest com- 
panionship, a close union with all that is 
grand and lofty and great in the uni- 
verse ; it has the highest treasure, love, 
— love from God and angels, and men ; 
and it pours back the same treasure, 
which is accepted and valued by Him, 
who is King of kings and the Ruler of 
countless worlds. This is the condition 
of him who follows the great law of the 
soul ; and we can follow this, no matter 
what our situation in life may be. He 
who does not follow this law, though he 
be king, or nabob, or philosopher, is not 
happy and cannot be. A king, a nabob, 
and a philosopher, must follow the rules 
for the body, just as much as a beggar ; 
and so also must they follow the rules for 
the soul. Without these, there is no 
happiness for any one ; and the humble 
in life can love just as well as the great 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 71 

of this world. Indeed, human greatness 
is very apt to act against this law of love, 
and must, therefore, be dangerous to our 
happiness. 

10. There was a little boy once, whose 
thoughts and feelings all rested upon 
himself. He was what is called selfish. 
He cared little about others, or cared for 
them only so far as they could add to his 
own individual comfort or gratification. 
He always studied his own enjoyment, 
no matter whether it took from the enjoy- 
ment of others or not. He seldom or 
never studied their pleasure ; and when 
theirs stood in the way of his, he gave 
no attention to them, but sought for his 
own enjoyments without regard to theirs. 

And could this little boy be happy ? 
He certainly could not. He was at 
variance with the great law of love ; and 
a man might just as reasonably walk out 
in an Iceland winter, amid the keen winds 
and eternal ice, and expect to feel warm 
and comfortable, as such a person might 
expect to be happy. Our bodies were 
not made to be warm, in such a freezing 



12 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

atmosphere, nor was such an atmosphere 
made to warm us. Nor, any more, was 
the soul made to be happy in selfishness, 
or selfishness adapted to make the soul 
happy. The soul has its laws as well as 
the body, and this is one of them. 

We are not forbidden to love ourselves ; 
for the very wording of the law " Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," im- 
plies self-love ; but this is a very differ- 
ent thing from selfishness. Selfishness 
seeks its own advantage without regard 
to others ; this great law for the soul 
commands us to love others as ourselves, 
and in this love and the kind acts which 
flow from it, our happiness is to be 
found. This is the law. Selfishness is 
always hateful ; this law, both in its 
nature and in its exercise, is always beau- 
tiful and attractive. 

11. My young friend, I hope you do 
not swear. I hope you do not profane 
God's name. Indeed, I should be very 
sorry, if I thought you could do such a 
thing as that. Some boys think it manly ; 
but, tell me, can it ever be manly, for any 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 73 

person, young or grown up, to treat his 
own father with disrespect ? Suppose a 
little boy, called William Perkins, to 
have a father who is, in every respect, a 
very superior man; a person of great 
excellence of character, of noble feelings, 
high mental acquirements, warmth of heart, 
and of great kindness towards his chil- 
dren. He is an excellent father, worthy 
the admiration, esteem, and love of every 
one. Now suppose this William Per- 
kins, in play, in conversation, in joke, or 
in business, to use his father's name, con- 
tinually, in such way as to bring it into 
disrespect with all around him. He uses 
it to ornament a rough jest ; he uses it to 
swear by, often when the oath has no 
meaning, or no truth in it; he uses it to 
give venom to his anger ; he uses it be- 
cause he thinks it looks smart; and he 
encourages others so to use it, and to 
bandy it about from tongue to tongue. 
Now, what would you think of that boy ? 
Could you do that with your father's 
name ? Could you encourage others to 
use your father's name in this way ? or 

7# 



74f MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

could you stand by with patience while 
they would do so? Why, my young 
friend, your blood rises at the very 
thought of such a thing ! 

But now, tell me, is not God your 
Father ? Is he not even nearer to you 
than your earthly father, in all the rela- 
tions which ought to make you respect, 
and reverence, and love him? He has 
made you ; he watches over you ; he pro- 
vides for you; he is very, very kind to 
you. He is your Father, nearer than an 
earthly father, and kinder and truer. O, 
do not use his name disrespectfully, or 
encourage others to do it. It is your 
Father's name. Do not profane it, and 
if others do so, and you cannot prevent 
it, get quickly away from their society. 

Should any person be bold enough, or 
bad enough, to treat his earthly father's 
name so ; you would, in your mind, draw 
several conclusions respecting him. — 
1st, you would think him a bad, unnat- 
ural son. 2dly, you would think that 
such conduct, persevered in, would soon 
destroy all good feeling in his heart, and 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 75 

would lead him on to great wickedness 
and misery. 3dly, you would conclude 
that the father himself would be dis- 
pleased, and could not love such a son, 
as he would love another; and that the 
father's displeasure would, after a while, 
show itself. Now, let us make the same 
reflections with regard to ourselves and 
our heavenly Father, whenever we feel 
disposed to profane his name ; and I think 
it will hardly be in our hearts to commit 
so bad, so unnatural an act. 

12. My young friend, there are a great 
many other things contrary to this law, 
which I might notice at length, — such as 
malice or ill-will, deceit, jealousy, peevish- 
ness, irritability, stubbornness, bad tem- 
per, vanity, caprice, unkindness, &c. ; but 
your own mind will see how to classify and 
arrange them; your own heart will, at 
once, know that they are all opposed to the 
great law for the soul, the law of love. 

When we indulge in any one of these, 
our own happiness suffers. This we have, 
no doubt, experienced. And should we 
try them again, we shall find that the law 



76 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

respecting them, and respecting love, has 
not altered. It cannot alter. We may 
as well attempt to upset the Alleghany 
mountains, as to upset this law ; for this 
it is which binds the universe together; 
and it will stand, whatever men may do. 
They may sneer, or disregard, or rebel, 
or scorn it ; but it will continue, notwith- 
standing, and will have its course. It is 
heaven's great law, which makes heaven 
what it is, a bright and glorious place. 
Our earth may perish for disobedience; 
but this law will not perish. When it 
passes away, heaven itself will pass away. 
Therefore this law will stand. 

13. "Sin" is said to be "the trans- 
gression of the law." How few persons 
there are who think of the supreme and 
entire selfishness of sin. The person who 
sins, can expect from it only a slight grat- 
ification, and that only for a little while. 
Yet, for the sake of this slight and short 
gratification, he is striking at the great 
laws on which the eternal peace, and 
order, and harmony of the universe 
depend. 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 77 

You know, perhaps, my young friend, 
that there is a power called the power of 
gravitation. It is that power, which, 
when you throw a stone up, makes it fall 
to the earth again. This power keeps all 
bodies fast to the surface of our earth, 
and prevents them from flying off, to be 
seen no more. This power, or the law by 
which it is governed, keeps our earth, 
and the moon, and all the planets belong- 
ing to our sun, in their places. If this 
law of gravitation were weakened or 
broken, then all the planets would fly off 
from their present course, clashing against 
other planets or suns, and breaking into 
myriads of pieces ; instantly, all people, 
and everything else on our globe, would 
dart off, and would be dashed against 
other things, and be destroyed ; and our 
earth, also, would be broken into frag- 
ments, and lost ; wild horror and certain 
destruction to everything would immedi- 
ately follow. 

Now, should any man be mad enough 
to wish, that, for the sake of an uncer- 
tain and a short gratification to himself, 



78 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

this law of gravitation should be weak- 
ened or broken, why, would not the 
whole creation have a right to look with 
indignation upon him, as a monster of 
selfishness ? He wishing that for him- 
self, from which so much misery, such 
dire destruction, would follow to all things 
besides ! and from which, indeed, instant 
destruction, to himself would also follow ! 
We should be horror-struck at the pos- 
sibility of such utter selfishness; we 
should think him mad. 

Now when we, for the sake of a sup- 
posed short gratification, oppose ourselves 
to God's laws for spirit, we do an act of 
equal, nay, of far greater selfishness and 
madness; for, though in the case just 
spoken of, our earth and all that is upon 
it would perish miserably, still, heaven, 
the spirit's home, would remain; but he 
who strikes at God's laws for spirit, strikes 
at heaven itself; and would, if successful, 
draw eternal blackness and ruin over the 
spiritual world. 

How utterly and disgustingly selfish, 
then, is every act of sin ! How does the 



CASES APPLIED TO THIS LAW. 79 

man who transgresses the law for spirit, 
strike, in doing this, at the eternal peace 
and well-being of the universe ; and this, 
in order that he may have, for his own 
single self, a short and uncertain enjoy- 
ment. 

14. The enjoyment, indeed, will not 
even be uncertain. There may be excite- 
ment like that of a drunkard, or that of a 
madman ; but there can be no true, heart- 
felt and heart-satisfying enjoyment. Such 
enjoyment is impossible, unless we accom- 
modate ourselves to the law for spirit, the 
law of love. This law was made for us, 
and we are made for it; and there can be 
no certain and true happiness, except in 
accordance with it. 

Then, my young friend, begin life in the 
right way at once. Do not spend your 
time, or any portion of it, in vain experi- 
ments against this law, and for other laws. 
Your time and labor will be thrown away. 
The act itself will be one of supreme sel- 
fishness, that must, and will, meet with 
rebuke. Love; that is the law. 

Go, then, into the world, and go through 



80 MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 

life, keeping the great law of love to God, 
and love to man. If you will do this, 
your comfort and happiness will be secure. 
They will be a part of God's eternal law, 
and nothing can disturb them. Be your 
condition in life what it may, — high or 
low, one of health or of sickness, one 6f 
admiration from men, or of neglect from 
men, — love, and you will be happy. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



From S. S. Randall, Esq., Dep. Sup. of Common Schools in the 
State of New York. 

State of Neto Yorfc, Secretary'* ©tf ice* 

Department of Common Schools. 
Albany, Sept. 16, 1846. 
I have examined portions of the manuscript, and been fa- 
vored with a general exposition of the plan of a work entitled 
"A System of Moral Philosophy, adapted to Children and 
Families, and especially to Common Schools, by the Rev. D. 
Steele, &c," and am of opinion that it is well adapted to 
the object which it has in view — the elementary instruction 
of the young in the principles and practice of a sound and pure 
morality. Such a work is very much needed in our common 
schools ; and, in my judgment, would be well received by the 
community generally. 

S. S. Randall, 
Dep. Sup. Common Schools. 



From Rev. President Day, of Yale College, in a letter to one of 
the authors. 

Yale College, July 10, 1846. 
Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

It is refreshing to receive even a few lines from one with 
whom I was once so happily associated, in official relation, and 
the endearments of friendship. The object and plan of the 
proposed work, which forms the subject of your letter of the 6th, 
I am much pleased with. How far it will meet with the at- 



11 RECOMMENDATIONS. 

tention and favor which it deserves, from those who have the 
direction of our primary schools, when there is so much com- 
petition among authors and publishers for furnishing text- 
books, I am not prepared to say. I consider the successful 
execution of such a work far more difficult, than one upon the 
same subject, for the use of adults. A distinguished writer has 
said, I think, that although he had an exalted opinion of Dr. 
"Watts' genius and attainments, as manifested in his poetical 
and philosophical works, yet the composition of the hymns 
and catechism for children was beyond his comprehension. 

But the danger of failure in similar attempts, enhances the 
value of success. 

May the blessing of Heaven rest continually upon you and 
yours, and upon your benevolent efforts to do good. 
"With affectionate regard, 

Your Friend, 

J. Day. 



From Professor Silliman, Yale College, 

Yale College, Sept. 7, 1846. 

The manuscript of a small original work on Moral Philoso- 
phy, by the Rev. D. Steele, &c, having been committed to me, 
I have much satisfaction in adding, that this appears to me a 
very happy attempt to render Moral Philosophy intelligible and 
interesting to children. 

Important truths are introduced in a skilful manner, and 

are illustrated in a style characterized both by simplicity and 

dignity. I trust that this unpretending volume will prove an 

effectual instruction to children of ten or twelve years, while 

it will be read with pleasure and approbation by persons of 

mature age. 

B. Silliman. 



From Rev. Br. Bond, editor of the Christian Advocate and Jour- 
nal, New York. 
I have examined a manuscript entitled, "A System of 
Moral Philosophy, adapted to Children and Families, and es- 



RECOMMENDATIONS. Ill 

pecially to Common Schools 5 by the Eev. David Steele and a 
Friend," and take great pleasure in commending it to the 
public. 

We were, at first, startled a little at the proposition to adapt 
a system of Moral Philosophy to the minds of children. We 
could not but advert to the casuistry and metaphysical subtle- 
ties which are found in the works of many great men, who 
have handled this subject ; and feared it was hardly possible 
to bring such discussions down to the comprehension of chil- 
dren. But we have been mistaken. 

In the manuscript to which we have referred, the whole 
subject is simplified, and presented in so clear a light as to be 
perfectly intelligible to a child ten years old. The authors 
base the whole system of morals on the one law of love, illus- 
trating and applying this law to every feeling of the soul, and 
every relative duty of life. The code is complete ; the obli- 
gation to obey it, and the benefit of obedience, are clear, and 
are cogently enforced. And the necessary, unavoidable con- 
sequences of disobedience to this law are shown to be suffer- 
ing — mental or corporeal — in all cases. They cannot be 
prevented or evaded. 

We commend this work to all who have the care of chil- 
dren ; — and we may add, that we cannot see why this system 
of Moral Philosophy is not adapted to adults as well as to chil- 
dren. 

Thomas E. Bond, M. D. 



From the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop of the Diocese of 
Pennsylvania, in a letter to one of the authors. 

Philadelphia, Oct. 14. 1846. 
My Dear Sir: — 

I learn with great pleasure, from your favor of the 6th inst., 
that ) t ou are engaged, in conjunction with a friend, in an at- 
tempt to render the first principles of Moral Philosophy intelli- 
gible and interesting to children. It is a noble undertaking, 
and I earnestly pray that it may meet with the encouragement 



IV RECOMMENDATIONS. 

which it deserves. Nothing seems to me more needed in our 
age and country, than deep convictions on the part of the young 
in respect to the sacredness, supremacy and blessedness of 
moral as compared with material good. 
I am, Dear Sir, 

Sincerely your Friend and Brother, 

Alonzo Potter. 



From Rev. J. P. Durbin, D. D., late President of Dickinson 
College, in a letter to one of the authors. 

Rev. and Dear Sir : — 

I am glad I had the opportunity of hearing the greater part 
of a work on Moral Philosophy, designed for children. I 
am satisfied of its excellence. It clearly distinguishes and 
illustrates the two parts of our being, the body and the soul, 
and the system of laws which God has ordained for each, and 
demonstrates that the moral laws are as immutable as the 
physical, and that our happiness of mind depends upon our 
observing the former, as certainly as our health of body in a 
proper observance of the latter. You have well laid down the 
only foundation of the moral system, love to God and love to 
man ; and these two great principles you have clearly illus- 
trated and enforced. 

Very Respectfully, 

J. P. DtJRBIN. 



From George B. Emerson, Esq. 
[ In a note to the Publishers. ] 

Boston, October 12, 1846. 
Mr. Emerson has examined the manuscript on "Moral 
Philosophy," and assures Messrs. Munroe & Company that he 
considers it well worth publishing. 






A SYSTEM 



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/^2?i 



MORAL PHILOSOPHY, 



ADAPTED TO 



CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, 



AND ESPECIALLY TO 



COMMON SCHOOLS. 



BY REV. D. STEELE, 

AND A FRIEND. 



BOSTON: 
JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 

1847. 



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